Augmented Reality tattoo generates Sonic the Hedgehog

Smartphones continually takes advantage of newer technological innovations. One such innovation is Augmented Reality (AR) which involves a blending CGI graphics into a user’s view of the real world.

Augmented Reality is pretty cool. We’ve seen how its been successfully utilized in games such as Pokemon GO, and how its use has also help create new experiences for shoppers, where the use of AR technology allows shoppers to “try” an item before buying it.

More recently, however, this technology has seen an increased prominence in the tattoo industry. In fact, certain apps can be used to virtually display a tattoo design on your body. Moreover, tattoos can be used to generate AR images.

This unique Augmented Reality tattoo by Olo Sabandija actually generates a Sonic the Hedgehog game. Olo shared his incredible Augmented Reality tattoo on Twitter, and it’s even cooler than it sounds.

Created using Unity, an open-source programming suite many popular video games employ, his tattoo of a NES controller on his arm serves as a marker that the AR program recognizes. Unfortunately, the game itself isn’t playable (gamers can only make the character jump) and right now in its current form, it pretty much just displays one of the stages from the game.

“In theory I can make a playable game, but I’m still several online tutorials away from that. And it would need to be a game like Arkanoid or Space Invaders, where you only move side to side and maybe down. I can make all sides of the D-pad interactive, but activating only the up part without also triggering the sides would make most games unplayable.”

While it’s a pretty cool idea, it’s also a rather novel one that shows the potential of what AR technology can do.

What video game would you most want to have as an augmented reality tattoo?

Daniel Swanick has been working as both a freelance and in-house Art Director / Senior Graphic Designer in the Greater Toronto Area for over ten years. He looks at every project from both a creative and strategic point-of-view to deliver engaging, conceptually driven ideas.